Tuesday, October 7, 2008

A DVD Bonanza for Fans of Classic Horror

If you own a DVD player, and you have a love of shock cinema made prior to 1961, then today is a very big day for you. Not sure why, just one of those lucky coincidences I guess, but a veritable windfall of classic terror "drops" today, as the kids say. I'm talking not one, not two, but three major releases. Let's get right into it.

The Picture of Dorian Gray

Warner Home Video is finally making this 1945 gem of an Oscar Wilde adaptation available on DVD for the first time, believe it or not. I'm thinking maybe news of another version being mounted may have been the motivation. Check out Angela Lansbury back when she was hot. Oh yeah, and she was nominated for an Oscar, too.

Psycho - Special Edition

Believe it or not, this is the first time Hitchcock's most famous film has ever gotten the deluxe "special edition" treatment as a stand-alone. It's part of Universal's Legacy Series, and even without the inevitable treasure trove of bonus features, it would be worth seeing, simply because it's still one of the finest movies ever made.

Ray Harryhausen Gift Set

You may recall that a Harryhausen gift set came out from Sony a couple years ago, featuring special editions of 20 Million Miles to Earth, It Came from Beneath the Sea and Earth vs. The Flying Saucers. This is the same bunch, except this time both black-and-white and newly colorized versions (supervised by Harryhausen himself) are included. Not quite worth $80, I say. Sure, you fancy-shmancy Blu-Ray people also get a fourth flick, The 7th Voyage of Sinbad--but do you get the adorable Ymir action figure? Huh? Do ya?? Didn't think so.

Yeah, that's what I mean (ie. high quality release). I just have the standard VHS release.

Also, there are some reports that the aspect ratio has been bungled, as apparently it's not anamorphic. Can you confirm or deny this? I was surprised to see a number of amazon reviews pointing this out.

Which horror film *should* be remade?

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Welcome to the Vault....

I've been fascinated with horror ever since my parents let me watch The Exorcist at 8 years old (what were they thinking??) and I ran up to my bed screaming when Linda Blair's eyes rolled into the back of her head.Although it often gets a bad rap from "mainstream" critics and audiences alike, horror has often been the most creative and vibrant movie genre of all, from Nosferatu to Saw. Some of the finest motion pictures ever made are part of the horror genre, including Frankenstein, Psycho, The Shining and my personal all-time favorite, George Romero's Dawn of the Dead.This blog is the culmination of my 25-year love affair with all things blood and guts--so check back here often for news and opinion on the world of horror. And remember...